OAKLAND, May 23, 2013 – The Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO), in partnership with Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL), is encouraging Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (AA&NHOPI) tobacco users to speak with their physicians about smoking and quitting.

AAPCHO and APPEAL, in support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “Talk with Your Doctor” campaign, is asking physicians and patients, to engage in dialogue about smoking cessation. Yesterday, CDC unveiled its campaign, which recognizes the critical role health care providers can play in helping their patients quit.

“Smoking continues to be a serious problem in our communities,” said Jeffery Caballero, executive director of AAPCHO, “We need to continue to let people know, especially those who fall under the radar of mainstream programs, of the health risks involved with smoking, as well as the availability of resources and services to help people quit.”

AAPCHO, a national non-profit association of community health centers primarily serving medically underserved AA&NHOPIs, is also promoting the Asian Quitline, which offers interpretive services in Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese. AAPCHO is asking physicians to refer smokers to the hotline, which is offering two weeks of free nicotine patches to callers.

“It is important to get trusted health care providers actively involved and encourage smokers to quit,” said Rod Lew, executive director of APPEAL. “And it is important that our communities, for which many are limited English proficient, get access to the in-language resources and assistance they need. We feel that the ‘Talk to Your Doctor Campaign,’ and the Asian Quitline helps us take steps toward that goal.”

National studies show extremely high smoking prevalence rates in Vietnamese and Korean American men – around one in three are smokers. Limited data on Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander populations suggest that children begin smoking at a very early age, and that smoking prevalence is very high among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander men and women.

About AAPCHO
AAPCHO is a national association of 33 community health organizations dedicated to promoting advocacy, collaboration, and leadership that improves the health status and access of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islanders in the U.S. For more information on AAPCHO please visit www.aapcho.org.

About APPEAL
Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL), founded in 1994, is a national organization working towards social justice and a tobacco-free Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community. To learn more about APPEAL, please visit www.appealforcommunities.org. ###